Joe Biden told supporters in New Hampshire Wednesday that the Iowa caucus results were "a gut punch," per AP.
Where it stands: With 71% of precincts reporting in Iowa, Biden stands in fourth place, behind Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
- "We took a gut punch in Iowa, the whole process took a gut punch," Biden said. "This isn't the first time in my life I've been knocked down."
- "I'm not going anywhere. And I'm counting on New Hampshire. We're going to come back," he added.
- He also directly took on Sanders and Buttigieg, attacking the former's democratic socialism and the latter's thin electoral resume.
The state of play: Should it hold, Biden's fourth-place finish in the first-in-the-nation caucuses could prove detrimental to his pitch as the most electable candidate — which was the main thrust of his argument as he toured Iowa in recent months.
- "We view Iowa as the beginning, not the end," said Biden surrogate Symone Sanders in the Iowa run-up, calling the first four contests — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — "four parts of one whole."
Go deeper: How Trump will use the Iowa caucus meltdown
